The Gem State Brief

Curated by Locus Lectorum

December 25, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

✍️ By Our Members

What's coming up for the GSB

"What's coming up for the GSB" — A look back at some of the things that have happened in the last few months and what the GSB is going to be doing to start off 2026 (GSB Staff)

Idaho DOGE Task Force recommends repealing Medicaid expansion

State Capitol | December 19 | Idaho Freedom Foundation

In its final meeting, Idaho's DOGE Task Force voted 6-2 to recommend repealing Medicaid expansion. Repealing Medicaid expansion will require legislative action in the upcoming session.

This story is the latest in a series, view the full thread here → 🧵


Horman leaves Idaho Legislature for Department of Health and Human Services

State Capitol | December 19 | Idaho Ed News

Wendy Horman, a key figure in the Idaho Legislature, will resign her post on January 5th for a federal position as director the Office of Child Care in the Administration for Children and Families. Horman was co-chair of JFAC, the committee that is responsible for appropriations and plays a critical role in budgeting. House Republicans will need to pick a replacement co-chair when the session commences on January 12th.

Judicial review confirms Elmore County election results

Elmore County Elections Department | December 22 | KTVB

In November, Elmore County officials discovered that several hundred ballots had not been counted in the general election. Per policy, the ballots were recounted by hand with multiple agencies as witnesses, with the election process also being reviewed by a judge. The new results were certified this week, and the inclusion of the 373 missing ballots did not change the outcome of any race.

Clearwater taken private at $8 billion valuation

Boise | December 22 | Reuters

Clearwater Analytics, one of the largest tech companies in Boise, announced it will be taken private at an $8.4 billion valuation. Clearwater is an investment management software company and, prior to this deal, was one of the few publicly traded Boise tech companies.

Kootenai town hall trial ends in split verdict

Coeur d'Alene | December 19 | AP

Paul Trouette, owner of the private security company Lear Asset Management, was on trial for his role in removing a heckler from a Republican town hall in February. The jury found him not guilty of actions directly related to removing the heckler, but guilty on counts related to security guard uniforms and a misdemeanor battery against two other people in attendance.

This story is the latest in a series, view the full thread here → 🧵


Idaho contractor arrested for grand theft

Boise | December 17 | Idaho News

Seth Woodell was arrested for multiple counts of grand theft after Boise Police determined that, using several different business names, he would bid for a home improvement job and then demand half of the payment up front and never complete the work.

Highlights & Insights

"The Men Who Stayed" - A thoughtful article that points to the beauty and power of a simple life lived well in the vein of George Bailey.

🏛️ Apologetics Fact

A trackway of 18,000 dinosaur tracks was recently discovered on a Bolivian beach. Interestingly, the tracks show indications of first walking and then swimming dinosaurs, as well as avian dinosaurs running along the beach. The tracks also are very well preserved, which would only be possible with rapid sedimentary deposits. This trackway is yet another piece of evidence for a catastrophic flood.

🗣️ Quote

"Nothing is more pernicious to intellectual honesty than pride in not having changed one's opinions." — Friedrich Hayek

🏅 Person: Saint Nicholas of Myra (270-343)

Saint Nicholas of Myra was one of the early church fathers, born sometime around 270 AD in Patara, located in modern-day Turkey. While much of his life is difficult to unweave from various legends, it is fairly clear that he was made the bishop of the prosperous city of Myra before being persecuted and imprisoned for his faith under the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian. Released after Constantine became the Emperor, Nicholas was an attendee at the Council of Nicaea, where legend states he struck the heretic Arius for denying the divinity of Christ, causing him to temporarily lose his bishopric. Many of the surviving tales about him involve his legendary generosity to those in need, leading to his modern transformation as "Saint Nick".

📕 Book: Against the Machine

Locus Lectorum's latest group read; here are our thoughts on this new publication from Paul Kingsnorth.
• Sam: 7/10 -- A gifted writer, Kingsnorth seeks to define and explain a felt but not seen malevolent force that has hijacked Western Civilization by embedding itself within capitalism, secularism, and the rise of the modern individual. Sobering yet at times quixotic, this book is for the reader seeking to have their assumptions challenged with excellent questions and observations with not many definitive answers, much like Atlas Shrugged.
• Josiah: 6/10 -- Kingsnorth correctly intuits many significant problems with modern society, and at times his beautiful prose carries his thoughts to great heights. Unfortunately, this effort is hampered by extremely inconsistent application of logic and a shaky foundation that wavers between Eastern Orthodox Christianity to Wiccan eco-terrorism and everywhere in between.
• Justin: 5/10 -- The author brings up important points for thought in our modern age and provides insightful philosophical tracings to Western culture. However, he does so in a rather schizophrenic manner, ultimately leaving the reader with no useful conclusions.
• Zack: 4/10 -- Paul Kingsnorth does address important and pressing matters, particularly regarding the negative effects of technology on the culture and the soul; however, these nuggets must be sifted from a multitude of pseudo-Christian, ecopolitical ramblings.
• Lane: 3/10 -- If someone claims the best purchase they ever made was an air-cooled VW bus, you can probably throw out the rest of their shared reasonings as well.
• Caleb: 1/10 -- Some authors try to refute reason-based epistemology with reason itself; that is one of the few errors this volume avoided--there is no risk of finding reason anywhere amongst its pages. The passing competence of its prose cannot hope to redeem an utterly bankrupt nature-worshiping philosophy more at home in the coven than in the Church.

Non-AI Generation Disclaimer: All elements of the Gem State Brief (headlines, summaries, highlights, insights, original articles/videos, etc.) are produced exclusively by members of the Locus Lectorum book club (learn about each member here), not AI. This is news by humans for humans.